台灣婦產身心醫學會

摘要：

Latinos comprised 17.1% of the U.S. population and 33.1% of US prisoners, yet they are underrepresented in the psychopathology literature. Despite higher rates of trauma among incarcerated individuals than in the general population, most of the previous research in this area focused primarily on women samples, and very few studies examined sex differences in PTSD and traumatic experiences. In addition, there is a need for research assessing traumatic experiences and probable PTSD in men and women Latino inmates to inform culturally competent care and sex sensitive care for this vulnerable and underserved population. Our study examined whether men and women Latino inmates with probable Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), based on the cut off 40 or more symptoms on the Davidson Trauma Scale (DTS), differed significantly by the number of event types experienced, the type of potentially traumatizing event, and in co-occurring psychiatric conditions. A multi-stage sample design was used to select a probabilistic sample of 1,331 inmates from 26 penal institutions in PR of which 1179 participated in the study. Bivariate associations were calculated for each type of traumatic event and probable PTSD. Mean number of types of potentially traumatizing event experienced was comparable for both sexes (F = 3.83, M = 3.74) yet sex differences were found in the nature of the event. Women with probable PTSD had higher rates of experiencing rape and sexual abuse. Men had higher rates of experiencing combat in war, a life-threatening accident, of witnessing violence, and being threatened with a weapon. Men with significant ADHD symptoms in childhood and with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) during adulthood were almost 5 and 7 times as likely to score above threshold on the DTS whereas women were >3 times as likely in the presence of ADHD symptoms in childhood or depression during adulthood. This study underscores the need to improve understanding of the clinical manifestations of trauma and co-occurring psychiatric conditions for appropriate sex sensitive interventions targeting Latinos living in prisons.

筆者註：
這篇文章關注特殊族群——可能診斷有創傷後壓力症候群（DTS量表＞40）的拉丁裔美國籍男女囚犯——在創傷特質和精神科相關共病上是否存在性別差異。
研究發現無論男女，在所遭遇創傷事件的數量平均值上並無明顯差異(F = 3.83, M = 3.74)，但創傷性質明顯各異：女性的創傷經驗多與性暴力有關，而男性則以戰爭、意外、或暴力脅迫有關。同時，發現到幼年期的注意力不足過動症狀，無論對男女而言，都與研究當下可能在DTS量表上被歸類為可能的創傷後壓力症候群正相關；而男性在成年期中有廣泛性焦慮症，以及女性在成年其中憂鬱症，也都與DTS＞40的可能性相關。
這份研究敦促臨床工作者增強對創傷的性別差異認識